Henry Eastin

Henry Eastin (died 28 June 1778) was a Corporal in the British Army under Major Edmund Hewlett, stationed in Setauket, Long Island during the American Revolutionary War.

Biography
Henry Eastin was born in England, and he joined the British Army. Eastin was deployed to North America under Major Edmund Hewlett, and he was stationed in Setauket after the capture of New York City in 1776. Eastin had the rank of Corporal, making him a sort of second-in-command to Hewlett after Captain John Graves Simcoe made enemies with the gentlemanly Hewlett. Eastin was sympathetic towards Simcoe, and he had a disliking for Abraham Woodhull, whom he was assigned to escort to the Brooklyn Ferry in late 1777 when Woodhull was sent to spy on the Sons of Liberty by Hewlett. Eastin rode from Setauket to Brooklyn Ferry whenever Woodhull had to head into the city, and he would escort him to and from New York. Eastin was hostile to him, throwing his bags on the ground rather than handing him his belongings, and he had a grudge against him. When Simcoe returned to the city in 1778, Eastin asked him if there was a spot open in the Queen's Rangers so that he could join Simcoe, but Simcoe told him that he had already chosen to side with Hewlett and his redcoats in the violence between the green coats of the rangers and the redcoats of the British regulars. On 28 June 1778, Hewlett sent Eastin as a courier to Major John Andre to deliver Woodhull's report on his activities in New York City, but Woodhull decided to ambush Eastin on his return trip in a way that would make it seem as if Simcoe had killed another redcoat. Woodhull shot Eastin in the chest, and he fell from his horse, mortally wounded. Woodhull planted a fake letter from Andre with him, claiming that Andre was uninterested in Woodhull's report. With the help of Robert Rogers - who wanted revenge against John Andre - Woodhull covered up his death and buried him along the side of the road.